At the start of the workout, the athlete will be standing by the box, with the plates on the opposite side of the room. On 3,2,1 go, you will run across to the plates and carry them back to the box to stack them on top. You can carry the plates anyway you would like and as many at one time as you would like. The unstacking of the plates follows the same rules and must be returned to their starting point before the subsequent burpees can be performed. There will be a 10 minute time cutoff for this workout.

WOD B:
For time:
Accumulate 1000 meters on the Rower, every time you drop below your prescribed pace, hop off and perform 10 abmat situps as fast as possible

This will be different for every athlete, but the idea is that this should be an all out effort every time you get on the rower. We will be using the 500 meter pace number on the monitor as our marker. Elite rowers will be somewhere between 1:25-1:30, Advanced 1:30-1:35, Intermediate 1:35-1:40, and so on and so forth. These are guidelines, you will be required to pick a specific number based upon your 100 meter row in the warm up. There will be a 10 minute time cutoff for this workout as well.

The challenge came at the perfect time for me. In April of 2011 my friends thought it would be fun to go burger tasting for my birthday. We had 6 burgers from 6 different restaurants, desserts, fries etc.. The day did not go an hour without food. At the end of the day I was so full I couldn’t breathe. I thought I would die of suffocation by burger. Well I didn’t just fall of the wagon, I was catapulted off! For the next 6 months my workout schedule became almost non existent along with my diet. It was HORRIBLE! My endurance, strength, energy, even confidence went down and my fat was growing and growing everyday. I joined PCF in October and it just so happened a week after I joined, the “Newtrition Challenge” was introduced. It gave me a reason to get back in shape, get back on my diet and feel good about my self again. I hit it HARD and with determination. If I wasn’t measuring and eating all my meals at home I was making sure my portions and meals were measured and Paleo when I went out. I was back doing crossfit 5-6 days a week, also now doing mobility WODs, making sure I worked on weaknesses, getting all 8+ hours of sleep, making sure I did not miss a day on my fish oil… IT WORKED! I felt the difference within the first two weeks. Other factors on my side are the majority of people I work with do crossfit and were a great support group, my work schedule, working 14 hours a week let me have enough time to do all of the time consuming preparation to eat Paleo/Zone get my sleep and get in to train. Having done all this before April 2010 and seeing how easy it is to fall back into that comfort zone afterward. The challenge made me realize that it really is something you don’t want to let go of for a long period of time. Thank you to everyone at Paradiso for all the help, advice, support and effort!

Now I know what you are thinking, working 14 hours a week is one hell of an advantage! This is true, but this does not mean that people that work more or less will automatically eat more or less healthy! I asked him about eating zone when he went out and he told me that he is a regular at a few restaurants and spoke with the managers about having his food custom made and measured. That is dedication and something most people probably wouldn’t have the balls to do no matter how much they worked!

The other big takeaway I got from this, was how important a good support structure can be. Whether it is your significant other, friends or family, having someone that takes the time to support you in your goals to be healthy and fit is priceless. I have seen many couples and tight CrossFit friends go through the process of changing their diet and lifestyle with greater success, while those who have friends or family that do not support these alternative lifestyle choices will oftentimes flounder. If you faltered over the holidays, don’t stress about it, make the changes you need and get back on track. We will be here to support you in your journey, but in the end, only you will determine your success or failure!

A big thanks to San for sharing (and good luck on your next birthday)!

Kareem reporting no snow at Mammoth Mountain. Decides to do a hardcore handstand on gravel to pass the time instead.